I was ‘tagged’ by Alison. As best as I can understand it… this means that I must write out 100 random (but true) things about myself. I took the time to read my friends’ lists…. And had a good time catching up on their lives. Hope you enjoy.
1. I have the same name as my father. I can’t tell you how proud I am to be named after him. This is perhaps one of the biggest honors of my life.
2. I was born and raised in the deep south of the USA.
3. Everyone says that I don’t have a southern accent.
4. I am the baby in the family. I think that this is the best because I was able to experience growing up in a house full of other kids… but eventually I was the only one living at home.
5. I like that my family is so big. I only wish that I got to see everyone more often.
6. I’ve been married to my best friend for almost 9 years.
7. We met our second week of our first year at University… and she is the best thing that has ever happened to me.
8. I love that I have so much in common with Dee.
9. We don’t have kids yet.
10. I’m still impressed/touched that so many of my old high school friends came down for my wedding.
11. I wish that we had had TJ in the wedding.
12. I have my master’s degree.
13. I turned the big twenty-ten last summer… and I still can’t believe it!
14. I’ve always said that my favorite color is blue… but I think that it is really green.
15. I remember telling a kid in elementary school that green was a stupid color and that he should pick another favorite…. Sorry David…!
16. I’ve lived in Ireland for 5 years…
17. We try and get back to the states once a year but that is harder at times than others.
18. I wish that my family came to visit more often.
19. I would really love to have a bowl of Capt’n Crunch… but can’t get it here. Thankfully my sister (Jodie) and mother send me some from time to time!
20. I love writing emails and internet posts mainly because I don’t have to use proper grammar…. And I can use “…” a lot. Is that lazy?
21. My in-laws are amazing. They have taken me in and made me to feel like a part of their family. I truly look forward to spending time with them and love to talk with them.
22. I love having fires in the fireplace. We have a nightly fire in the fireplace about 9 months of the year.
23. My favorite TV shows are: The Amazing Race, The Tudors, Home and Away (Australian soap opera), How I Met Your Mother, The Office, Father Ted, Deadliest Catch, Gilmore Girls.
24. My favorite high school teacher was Dr. Black… favorite University prof was Dr. Younce. Both of these men made me really think.
25. I don’t like it when people call themselves a ‘realist’ when they are really just a ‘pessimist’.
26. I’m dyslexic.
27. I still have a hard time spelling… Thankfully the computer has solved that for me!
28. I have always admired my mother’s creativity
29. I have very clear childhood memories of my mother taking art classes and bringing her work home. I remember sitting beside her as she wove baskets… did calligraphy… painted… learned to read and write in braille… (to name a few things)…
30. I have never considered myself to be artistic.
31. I played the french horn for about four years… but I never enjoyed it or really excelled.
32. Since moving to Ireland I have started feeling (for the first time) truly creative.
33. I love photography. I take photos just about every day and am never without a camera…. But you already knew that.
34. I secretly wish that I could be a professional photographer (but don’t tell anyone that).
35. I have been in a local pottery course for the past four years. I love it and I am actually producing some useful things!
36. I love to write. I have been writing in my personal journal (not just this online one) for about four years now. The little leather bound book comes apart so that I can print pictures onto the pages and then reassemble it. I keep it in my coat pocket and I usually write in it while I’m at the coffee shop.
37. I think that my father is one of the funniest people I know. We (my family) kid him about being competitive… but he just loves to have fun and to play.
38. I love that my dad is the only person I know that actively tries to play ‘April fools’ jokes.
39. I still can’t figure out how he gets so many ringers when we play horseshoes.
40. I love that everyone says that I look just like my dad.
41. I am an ‘on time person’…. Actually… I am a ‘be there before time person’.
42. I love all kinds of games… but my favorite would be Nertz or Power Uno (see I can’t even pick a favorite).
43. I hope to someday meet the president.
44. I fear loosing my hearing….
45. I am ticklish but I won’t admit it…
46. I never knew that I had dry elbows until I married Dee.
47. I would go back and re-do high school. Mainly because I would do a lot of things differently… and I would know how to study this time.
48. I am sad that I have lost contact with so many people from high school and university… but I am also surprised by how many people I do keep in contact with.
49. My hair has never been as long as it is right now… I can’t decide if I want to cut it or just let it go really long.
50. I secretly want to shave my head… but Dee does not want me to… so I haven’t.
51. I am an extrovert. I’m not the life of the party… but I get my energy from being around people.
52. I love baseball but I have not been able to follow it for the past five years.
53. I played baseball when I was a kid… but I didn’t stick with it long enough to really figure it out. I remember wondering what I was supposed to do but not wanting to admit that I was clueless. I’ve always regretted quitting.
54. I have created a list of things I want to do before I die.
55. I have already marked several things off of said list such as living in Europe… camping at a rock festival… and some things that I don’t want to admit to on the internet!
56. I want to jump out of a plane before I die. I know that may not be a big deal to most people but it is something that I have always wanted to do.
57. I can’t sing…. No… really…. I can’t. but I really want to sing in public.
58. I am a collector. Name it and I collect it or have collected it.
59. I am currently collecting dirt from different places I have visited (sand from Omaha beach… black sand from Hawaii... dirt from under the Eiffel Tower…etc).
60. I love history. I collect ancient artifacts (pottery… coins… arrowheads… fossils…)
61. I love telling stories… I love to learn local history and then pass it on.
62. I enjoy working in the garden. Cutting grass… weeding… planting flowers… it is just nice to be outside when it isn’t raining!
63. I also love having plants in the house. We have about a dozen orchids… bonsai trees… and tons of others you don’t want to hear about.
64. I would love to have a dog… but we travel too much.
65. I desire to really read… but I rarely have/make the time to.
66. I have a fish tank in our living room.
67. I’ve kept fish ever since I worked in the pet department of Wal-mart when I was in high school.
68. I love being an uncle.
69. I’ve always wanted to be on a reality TV show… I even printed out the application form to be on “The Mole” (anyone remember that?). I never sent it in.
70. I have figured out that I am not a do’er. I’m an instigator. I will rarely actually do something crazy… but the crazy event is usually organized by me.
71. I would still love to ‘roll’ someone’s yard.
72. I am allergic to MSG
73. I HATE Chinese food!
74. I miss eating really good Mexican food!
75. I hate washing dishes but I would rather wash dishes than cook.
76. I snore… or so I have been told…
77. I once had a job as a secret shopper. I would go to restaurants and spy on the people working. I loved this job!
78. I wish that I was a secret shopper again…
79. I am a Mac user.
80. I still love the Simpsons. They are as funny now as they were when they first came on when I was in middle school.
81. My favorite characters are Nelson and Ralph.
82. I am not a fan of the Beatles. There… I said it…
83. I have worn a dress in public…
84. I have danced in a dress in the mall in order to make a music video for my now wife.
85. I have no idea where this video is now…
86. I am still grieving for Joel and Brian. They both were childhood friends… and both passed away last year.
87. I wish that I could skateboard… but don’t want to learn because I can’t afford to brake an arm.
88. I still have the scar all over the top of my right hand. My mother told me not to be skateboarding on this day because she was not going to be home… we did… I scraped all the skin off my hand… Joel and I tried to bandage it but only had tiny band-aids.
89. I have learned five languages but can only speak two.
90. I would love to catch a foul ball at a baseball game… but honestly… I would probably jump out of the way…
91. I love to fly. I often fall asleep before we take off and wake up as we land.
92. I hated going to coffee shops when I was in college… but I love it now.
93. My favorite drink is a dark mocha… coffee and chocolate… it does not get better than this!
94. I don’t golf, but I would love to learn.
95. I do not like facebook. Don’t know why… but I have no desire to be on it. I think that it is because it is too trendy.
96. I really want to go back to Italy. There are so many places that I have not seen… but Venice is probably at the top of my list.
97. The first thing I do every morning is to look out at the ocean.
98. I have played competitive badmitton for about four years. I’m not that good, but I enjoy the exercise and time to chat with friends.
99. I consider my life to be a pilgrimage of sorts. I don’t know where I will end up… or what the next step will bring… it does not matter to me… it is the journey that I am on… and what God is teaching me right now that really matters.
100. I am blessed… and I am content.
This ended up taking a lot more time than I had thought! I NEVER do these things… but it really made me think… I have to say that I am really glad that I did it. I had a lot of fun. I’m not sure that these are the things that best sum me up… but there you go…
This is now part of the game where I get to ‘tag’ a couple of other people to do the same…. Ha ha!
I am now going to tag Byron (because I know his list will be really funny), Ryan (because I would like to get to know you better), and Jen D (because I know that you will do it!).
Labels: question, thoughts
